Head coach John Roemer said before the season started that he believed he had a team with quite a few players capable of scoring. Roemer’s Woodland club proved that Tuesday night with an 88-78 nonconference boys’ basketball victory over Tri-Point.

The Warriors had five players reach double figures in holding off the visiting Chargers.

“It’s good we attacked the basket,” Roemer said. “When we attack the basket and get to the free throw line, we’re a pretty good basketball team.”

Being aggressive and not relying on the perimeter game allowed the Warriors to try 43 shots from the charity stripe on the night. They made 27 of the tosses.

“I knew it was going to be physical,” TPHS head coach Justin Cox said. “We turned the ball over way too much early and put them on the free throw line.”

Alex Miller got to the line a lot for Woodland. The 6-foot-2 senior was 14 of 18 on the night from the charity stripe. On the flip side, Tri-Point was 11 of 16 as a team from the line.

What all the trips to the line did was create stoppages in play, otherwise the game was up and down the floor.

“I knew they wanted to get up and down the floor like we want to get up and down the floor,” Cox said. “Defense was probably going to be thrown out the window a little bit.”

Games played at such a high tempo are loaded with scoring runs. It was a matter of being able to take the punch and come back with a counter. Woodland did the better job on this night.

The Warriors had two significant surges that countered Tri-Point attacks. The first followed a burst by the Chargers that gave the visitors an eight-point advantage in the second quarter.

Tri-Point opened the second period with a 14-2 run that included a trio of 3-pointers from sophomore Timmy Crouch. It turned a 23-19 deficit into a 33-25 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the half.

Jon Hays sank two free throws with 4:39 left and Roemer used a timeout to make an adjustment. The result was a 22-4 run that closed out the half for the Warriors.

“That was a good turnaround for us,” Roemer said. “We went to man and picked up the pace and started hitting shots.”

Six different players scored in the run that put Woodland ahead 47-37 at the intermission.

Page 2 of 2 - WHS also scored the first two points of the second half but the Chargers responded with an eight-point outburst to crawl to within four, at 49-45, with 5:25 left in the third quarter.

The Warriors reeled off 10 straight points, including a five-point spurt in a four-second span. Mitch Miller hit a 3-pointer and a foul on the play gave Woodland the ball. Nate Girard scored on a put-back seconds later to push the WHS advantage its biggest margin at 59-45.

Another momentum shift brought Tri-Point back into contention. Trailing 64-56 at the start of the final frame, the Chargers followed their leader in drawing closer and closer.

Jordan Tharp scored the first five points in what became a 13-6 run that brought The Point to within one, at 70-69. Nate Hoffman nailed a 3-pointer to get it to one.

Tharp scored again and Miah Woodworth hit a pair of free throws as the Chargers took a 73-72 lead. It was the first time The Point was on top since the middle of the second quarter.

But Alex Erschen came back and drilled a 3-pointer eight seconds later to put Woodland back on top for good. Erschen’s basket triggered a 10-0 run put the game away.

It was a night for scoring as Alex Miller’s 26 points led the Warriors. Erschen added 16, Mitch Miller threw in 15 and Girard and Hays followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Zane Noonan and Kody Appel had 3 points apiece.

Tharp finished with 35 points for Tri-Point (11-8). He scored 24 points in the second half. Crouch added 12 and Kyle Moritz chipped in 7. Also scoring for the Chargers were Justin Johnson with 6 points, Josh Flessner with 5, Ryan DeFord and Woodworth with 4 points apiece, Hoffman with 3 and Zach Taylor with 2 points.